AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter27
Ember
The village is small, consisting only of a handful of wooden buildings lined on a dirt street. It’s tucked away in the middle of the forest, and those out and about as rain drizzles down on top of us keep their eyes focused on the ground as they walk.
The mood is somber, though I’m not sure if that’s due to the still drizzling rain or normal for this place. Based on the fact that they have Taranus as their king, I’d say it’s a combination.
Rafferty guides me down an alley and up to a door set in the back of the largest building. There, he raises his fist and knocks once, twice, then pauses before knocking three more times in rapid succession.
A secret knock…interesting.
Hope burns in my chest. Is it possible we found the Rebellion? Is this it?
The door opens, and a short, round woman peeks her head out. Golden eyes narrow on Rafferty, then she gasps and jumps back. “As I live and breathe, Rafferty, is that you?”
“Hello, Marie,” he greets.
Tears spring to her eyes, and she rushes forward to wrap her arms around his waist. “We thought ye’ dead, boy! Dead!”
“Shhh, or I might still end up that way,” he jokes.
She pushes back and moves to the side, ushering us inside. Warmth envelopes me, and I smile, breathing in the aroma of freshly baked…well…something.
The moment we’re inside, she leads us from a dimly lit hall and into a quiet kitchen. Something boils in a pot hung over a roaring fire while something else presumably bakes in a metal box directly on the coals.
“Ye’ poor dears, you both look absolutely awful.”
“Thank you for the warm greeting.”
Marie purses her lips. “We need to get ye’ to a room, quietly. The guards are here in town looking for ye’,” she whispers.
“Then you shouldn’t have let us in.” Rafferty straightens and peers back down the hall.
“Hush yer’ mouth. I won’t have it. Besides, they’ve already searched all the rooms, and based on the mead they’re inhaling, they won’t be looking again. Come.” Shifting quickly, she gathers her skirts and moves past us, heading for a set of wooden stairs.
In near silence, she ascends them, one at a time, with me behind her and Rafferty directly behind me. A door opens above us, and Marie quickly steps out, closing the door in front of me.
“Marie. We were just looking for a room.”
“Then take yer’ pick,” she replies, the sound muffled through the door. “You’ve already ripped them all apart.”
Rafferty grabs me and yanks me through a door I hadn’t even noticed. He shuts it quietly and pins me against the wall, pressing his massive body into me. Not that he could have given me much space, anyway. From the looks of it, we’re standing in the world’s smallest closet.
My heart pounds while I try to keep my breathing steady.
Rafferty drops his face to my neck and inhales.
Lust pounds in my ears.
Knowing I will likely regret it, I turn my head so my face is in his neck, too. I breathe in, inhaling the scent of pine and fresh rain—something that is a double sucker punch of lust to my gut.
I know we’re supposed to be keeping our distance, that me being near him makes it difficult for him to control his lust—but when we’re this close, nothing else matters.
Rafferty growls, tightening his hands on my waist, and it’s all I can do to keep myself standing when he lifts his head and looks at me. Eyes, so golden they illuminate the closet around us, meet mine, and I lose my breath.
Forgo any rational thought.
Because Rafferty looks like he wants todevourme.
